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theia_jensen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Cried literally the whole way through. I grew really attached to almost all of the characters. I'm excited to read more on the side characters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
jjhina's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pandemic/Epidemic
runninginair's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
theswordandthesea's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A second chance romance about grown-ass adults! Definitely outside my usual realm, but what a stunning book filled with characters who feel like real people facing real problems & doing the work to move past those problems. I’m excited to read more from Kennedy Ryan.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Title: Before I Let Go
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Series: Skyland #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: November 15, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Riveting • Raw • Beautiful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn't solve or save everything.
It couldn't save their marriage.
Yasmen wasn't prepared for how her life fell apart, but she's is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they're always drawn back to each other, and now they're beginning to wonder if they're truly ready to let go of everything they once had.
Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another...and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good--until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Before I Let Go was my first venture into Kennedy Ryan's repertoire and I picked it up at the beginning of 2024 simply because I desperately wanted to read my ARC of book two in the series, which was releasing in February. What a pleasant surprise this one was!
I absolutely loved this second chance at love story!
It is so much more than a romance and it's filled with such deep and raw emotion. Yasmen and Josiah are both complex and such fully developed characters. Getting both of their POVs allowed for an in-depth look at how each handled the same event in completely different ways. There is so much power in this aspect of the storytelling, because it showcases how one event can affect people entirely differently based on a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Their ability to put aside their differences and continue to run a business together and co-parent their children is incredibly beautiful and mature. Not only does Kennedy Ryan focus on the romantic
relationship, she also demonstrates relationships of friendship, parenting, and maybe most importantly, the relationship with self, with such integrity. Don't get me wrong their passion and chemistry lifted right off of the page, but I loved that it was so much more than that.
The secondary characters were also fantastic and it made me really look forward to continuing on with books in this series. Again the bond between Yasmen and her friends felt so organic, supportive and life-giving. I want more of that in my books.
Before I Let You Go was an absolute gem! The characters and the relationships are one I won't forget and it was easy to immediately jump into This Could Be Us as soon as I finished. While I await another installment, I look forward to exploring more of her backlist.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• steamy romance
• the second chance trope
• romance with depth
⚠️ CW: grief, death, child death, miscarriage, pregnancy, infertility, medical trauma, death of parent, mental illness, depression, sexual content, divorce, suicidal thoughts, cursing, panic attacks/disorders, car accident, injury/injury detail, dementia
o
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You have no idea what it takes to get out of bed most morning, but I do it. Everything hurts, but I keep doing it."
"Grief looks different for everyone. You saw her as falling apart and me as strong, when maybe she was doing something I wasn't able to do."
"'I told her it wasn't that I wanted to take my life,' she says. ' But that I didn't want to live it. I'd wake-up disappointed that I wasn't still asleep and think, Oh, my god, I have to do this again. I have to be here again. The only that got me our of bed was knowing I had to take care of my children, even though I had no desire to even take care of me. All day I had to remind myself of how much they would miss me if I was gone. Of what I would miss if I wasn't here, even though here was the last place I wanted to be for a long time. I ached every moment of every day.'"
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Series: Skyland #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: November 15, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Riveting • Raw • Beautiful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn't solve or save everything.
It couldn't save their marriage.
Yasmen wasn't prepared for how her life fell apart, but she's is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they're always drawn back to each other, and now they're beginning to wonder if they're truly ready to let go of everything they once had.
Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another...and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good--until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Before I Let Go was my first venture into Kennedy Ryan's repertoire and I picked it up at the beginning of 2024 simply because I desperately wanted to read my ARC of book two in the series, which was releasing in February. What a pleasant surprise this one was!
I absolutely loved this second chance at love story!
It is so much more than a romance and it's filled with such deep and raw emotion. Yasmen and Josiah are both complex and such fully developed characters. Getting both of their POVs allowed for an in-depth look at how each handled the same event in completely different ways. There is so much power in this aspect of the storytelling, because it showcases how one event can affect people entirely differently based on a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Their ability to put aside their differences and continue to run a business together and co-parent their children is incredibly beautiful and mature. Not only does Kennedy Ryan focus on the romantic
relationship, she also demonstrates relationships of friendship, parenting, and maybe most importantly, the relationship with self, with such integrity. Don't get me wrong their passion and chemistry lifted right off of the page, but I loved that it was so much more than that.
The secondary characters were also fantastic and it made me really look forward to continuing on with books in this series. Again the bond between Yasmen and her friends felt so organic, supportive and life-giving. I want more of that in my books.
Before I Let You Go was an absolute gem! The characters and the relationships are one I won't forget and it was easy to immediately jump into This Could Be Us as soon as I finished. While I await another installment, I look forward to exploring more of her backlist.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• steamy romance
• the second chance trope
• romance with depth
⚠️ CW: grief, death, child death, miscarriage, pregnancy, infertility, medical trauma, death of parent, mental illness, depression, sexual content, divorce, suicidal thoughts, cursing, panic attacks/disorders, car accident, injury/injury detail, dementia
o
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You have no idea what it takes to get out of bed most morning, but I do it. Everything hurts, but I keep doing it."
"Grief looks different for everyone. You saw her as falling apart and me as strong, when maybe she was doing something I wasn't able to do."
"'I told her it wasn't that I wanted to take my life,' she says. ' But that I didn't want to live it. I'd wake-up disappointed that I wasn't still asleep and think, Oh, my god, I have to do this again. I have to be here again. The only that got me our of bed was knowing I had to take care of my children, even though I had no desire to even take care of me. All day I had to remind myself of how much they would miss me if I was gone. Of what I would miss if I wasn't here, even though here was the last place I wanted to be for a long time. I ached every moment of every day.'"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Dementia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
depression, divorcecourtneyhollyy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The yearning in this book was just unmatched. It broke my heart and then put it back together again and I loved it. The deep dive into grief and its manifestations was so sensitively done.
I have so many thoughts. This book was mature, deeply emotional and so beautifully written. I listened to the audiobook and I so enjoyed the narration from both narrators. It just elevated the story for me.
Yasmen just had my entire heart as a character - she’s a mother who’s lost so much and had to deal with a lot, and she’s rebuilding her life and herself through the book in such a graceful way. She makes mistakes and holds her hands up to them. Her relationship with her daughter broke my heart so much, and the way it changed through the story hit me in the feels.
Josiah slowly became one of my fave romance male MCs to date. He wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong and his development as a character was excellent.
Also shoutout to Yasmen and Josiah’s son bc he was adorable 😭
I just really enjoyed how the main characters in this book actually came across as the age they were supposed to be! So often in romance you have twenty/thirty year olds acting like teenagers, and it’s so annoying, so it was wonderful to see what a rekindling between two mature adults could look like. And the therapy rep!! Yes!
Also also I loved Yasmen’s friendship group and the support she had from her girls. Just pure serotonin to read.
My only real gripe with this book is that I thought it was a bit too long. Everything else I really enjoyed. Really gorgeous book!!
I have so many thoughts. This book was mature, deeply emotional and so beautifully written. I listened to the audiobook and I so enjoyed the narration from both narrators. It just elevated the story for me.
Yasmen just had my entire heart as a character - she’s a mother who’s lost so much and had to deal with a lot, and she’s rebuilding her life and herself through the book in such a graceful way. She makes mistakes and holds her hands up to them. Her relationship with her daughter broke my heart so much, and the way it changed through the story hit me in the feels.
Josiah slowly became one of my fave romance male MCs to date. He wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong and his development as a character was excellent.
Also shoutout to Yasmen and Josiah’s son bc he was adorable 😭
I just really enjoyed how the main characters in this book actually came across as the age they were supposed to be! So often in romance you have twenty/thirty year olds acting like teenagers, and it’s so annoying, so it was wonderful to see what a rekindling between two mature adults could look like. And the therapy rep!! Yes!
Also also I loved Yasmen’s friendship group and the support she had from her girls. Just pure serotonin to read.
My only real gripe with this book is that I thought it was a bit too long. Everything else I really enjoyed. Really gorgeous book!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Death and Suicidal thoughts
daydreaminlilac's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy
thereadersays's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow what a novel. On the surface a powerful and at times spicy romance. Ryan has also managed to turn this love story into a reflection on grief and how it can affect us. How they way we cope with things show up for ourselves and the impact is has on those around us. A lesson in choosing love in-spite of the risks. An absolutely phenomenal novel that gripped me from start to end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
cdbrown's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I will start by saying the exploration of grief, loss, depression, betrayal, etc was done beautifully. Such complex parts of love were explored effectively. However I didn’t love this as much as I hoped to. I wish the length of this story spent more time exploring how and why Yasmen and Josiah fell in love so that I could feel more attached to their characters and more eager for them to be back together. With no history I felt their attraction was solely based on sex, their kids and the restaurant and I wanted to explore a bit more than that. Overall, I thought it was worth the read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
allysonw_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have never cried as much as I have while reading this book. Like I sobbed and that doesn’t happen often when I read despite me being a pretty emotional person As someone who has gone through depression and certain types of ideation I was amazed at how detailed Ryan was in describing what it felt like. For example there’s a certain part in the book where Yasmen describes what her day to day felt like at one point. She says “I’d wake up disappointed that I wasn’t still asleep and think, Oh, my God. I have to do this again. I have to be here again.” This is just one of many parts of the book that really hit the nail on the head of what it’s like to really be in a deep pit and feel like there’s no way out. What I love about this book is how layered it is and how it doesn’t hold back in digging into the ugly parts of life. Yasmen and Josiah are imperfect people who went through unimaginable tragedy, and I think showing the conflict in their relationship early on and leaning into the awkward parts of their life as a divorced couple helped to showcase so well the nuances of being in love and illustrate what they had to go through to come back together. This is a book that I know I’ll be re-reading for years. Ms Kennedy Ryan, you hit this one out the park.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts